A data center may be defined as a location, for instance, a room that houses computer systems arranged in a number of racks. These racks are configured to house a number of computer systems which typically include a number of printed circuit boards (PCBs), mass storage devices, power supplies, processors, micro-controllers, and semi-conductor devices, that dissipate relatively significant amounts of heat during their operation.
Multiple air conditioning units are known to be employed in cooling heated air and supplying the cooled air to the computer systems. The cooled air from the multiple air conditioning units is typically mixed together and supplied through a series of vent tiles positioned above a plenum that directs airflow from the air conditioning units to the vent tiles. Therefore, various areas of the data center receive cooled air from multiple ones of the air conditioning units. The temperatures detected at the air conditioning unit inlets are thus not an accurate reflection of the temperatures of the computer systems being cooled. However, in most instances, the temperatures at the air conditioning inlets control the air conditioning unit operations, which often lead to inefficient cool air flow provisioning.